Compound material for road marking



May 5 1964 u. soMlGLiANA 3,132,114

coMPouND MATERIAL Foa ROAD MARKING Filed Sept. 28, 1955 -o ,2. F/GZ C/Cll/ 0.00 0.00 0./ 0.9 0.a 0.7

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zaga 50 090510.17 'L United States Patent rOffice 3,132,114 Patented May 5., 1964 35,132,114 COMPOUND MATERIAL FR RGAD MA Ugo Somigliana, 38 Via Torno, Como, Italy Filed Sept. 28, i955, Ser. No. 537,140

Claims priority, application Netherlands Oct. 2, 1954 l Claims. (Cl. 26d-28.5)

This invention relates to a new and advantageous material designed to be applied to road surfaces for marking and/ or signing purposes and, more particularly, it is related to a new and advantageous compound material, which is adapted to be preferably manufactured in strip or ribbon form, or in the shape of more or less large sheets,

to be cut in any desired shape, and to be applied over and firmly connected to the road surface for producing markings and/ or signs which may warn vehicles operators or pedestrians by sight, which will'take and endure the hardest stresses and abuses due to passage of heavy and/or fast vehicles, without prejudicing the proper and safe vehicles movements, and which are a practical and economical solution of the road marking problems.

It is known to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains that many problems are to be faced in studying, planning and carrying out any case of road marking, say of installing road and street center or guide lines,` of marking parking areas, stop-lines, warning or direction signs, pedestrians cross-strips, and other warning or advising signs or markings to be made on the actual surface of town and country roads, streets and squares, or on any other roadside surface.

One of such problems involves the production of a ,y

mark or sign which may form on the actual road or readable surface (which will be simply referred as road surface as this specification proceeds and in the appended claims) one or more strips or zones of bright color (say white or yellow) of the most desirable easy sight on the said surface and, preferably, wherein the color is throughoutly extended on the said zone.

Another problem consists in the installation of marking means on the road surface, which do not substantially modify'the smoothness of same and its ability of making safe the fast run of road Vehicles thereon, even in sharp turns or curves, accelerations and severe braking manoeuvring. r

:A further problem is the production and the installation of marking means on the road surface, which may resist to the most severe stressesV due to the vertical and tangential forces which may beapplied thereto by the load` of trucks or busses or other heavy road-vehicles, and byfthe dynamical actions exerted by turning, accelerating or braking vehicles, i.e. to most severe stresses which tend to injure the marked zone and to lacerate and tear the marking means there away.

`A still other problem is the manufacture4 and the installation of a marking material which may actuate a throughoutly colored strip or shaped zone on the road surface, which is wear resisting and which may maintain its complete marking ability upon hardest road traic and during very long time, say of many months and years too, lthe above expression complete marking ability being intendedto mean the ability of maintaining its colored surface safe from substantial holes or other interruptions or "damages which might prejudice its signalling eiciency. A still further problem is to produce a marking material which may be mass manufactured at a relatively cheap cost both in raw'materials and in factory production,which requires little equipment and few man hours at low labor rate for applying same on and to the road surface, and whose application and'setting onfsaid surface might be completed in a very brief lapse of time,

Y said feature being obviously very desirable when considsurface, respectively.

ered from the standpoint of minimum disturbance or interruption of the road trac on the areas to be marked. It is further known to those skilled in the art that a practical solution of any and every said problem has been given by any one of the marking means for road surfaces, heretofore produced or proposed. For example, surface road markings produced by painting said surface get a satisfying marking ability but during very brief times, from very few months down to very few weeks in case of intense road traic, and the painting of the signs on the road surface, including the setting ofthe paint, requires noticeable labor cost and involves a pretty long interruption of the road traffic on the marked areas. The use of metallic or plastic made road nails as road surface marking means includes high factory and raw material costs for manufacturing of same and many skilled workers hours for properly fitting and securing the nails on the road surface. The signalling eifect, due to the small surface of the nails heads only, is poor in comparison to the marking ability of fully colored zones, as produced by road surface painting, and the salients formed by the nail heads on the roadable surface and the slippery spots thus formed too might prejudice the safety of traffic.` y

The use of plastic made or of rubber, made strips, applied on and connectedV to` the road surface` bymaking use of heterogeneous cement or adhesive has been experimentally proved not satisfying and practical, either in View of poor ability to resist to stresses and wear, Vor in view of too poor adherence and connection to the ground The main object of this invention is, therefore, the provision of a new marking means, for the applications referred to above, which is subject Vto none ofthe objections and of the above outlined limitations of any of the said used or proposed known marking means,land which gives a practical combined solution of any of the above said problems too. More particularly, it is the general object of this invention to provide a new compound material preferably in sheet or strip form in general of thickness comprised from 0.5 to 1,5 millimeters (from about 1/50 to '-Vle of an inch), which behaves as a plastic material during the application thereof on and against to roadsurface, completely juxtaposing and longitudinally shaping .itself to the very minor salients and hollows of said surface, whose lower or road surface `contacting face may be made p adhesive andtherefore adapted to be firmly and perma- It has been surprisingly found by the applicant that saidV advantageous combination of characteristics is attained, according to the invention, by providing a new compound material wherein there are at least one elastomer component and one resinous component which may be made adhesive by the action of a proper solvent and which has or which may acquire plasticicharacter, wherein theV said components are finely mixed together to form a compound material having the character of an homogeneous molecular aggregate, or solid solution, and wherein the amount of said resinous ycomponent is greater'than the amount of said elastomer component.

In the above general definition of the characteristics and of the essential features of the invention, and likewise as this specification proceeds and inthe appended claims, the

sented to the solvent a positive glue-like or adhesive character without heating i.e. in the said expression the ability possessed by the most of thermo-plastic resinous substances to be made more or less adhesive by heating same is not intended to be comprised. f

Still further, the expression which may acquire plastic character, referred to same resinous component, is intended to further restrict said class to the substances or materials which, either if the substance isV self-plastified or if the substance is mixed with a plasticizer, may plastically adapt itself to the shape of the surface of solid materials against which same substance may eventually be juxtaposed and pressed.

For simplicity sake, the said resinous component having the above defined `characters will be further indicated as plastic and adhesive componen 'on the premises that the feature of adhesiveness may be acquired by making use of a proper known solvent, typical for the given substance, and at ambient thermal condition, and that its plasticity is exclusively intended to be referred to the above said ability of adaptation or permanent modiiiableness of shape.

In the compound material of the invention, the molecular aggregate formed by the said components constitute l the @adhesive elasto-plastic basis, and in said base is in the most of preferred forms of embodiment of the invention mixed one or more. additive components, either in view of adding more self-sustaining and/ or tear resisting abilities to the compound material, and/or in view ofv coloring same, say the additive known components which, according to current art, are added to natural or to synthetic rubber and to thermo-plastic materials, for corresponding purposes. For example, said additive components may include kaolin, microaasbestos or asbestos in powder form, titanium-white, and coloring agents, dyes or pigments, and/or other coloring, filling, reinforcing agents etc.

Preferably, the elastomer component lof the material consists in a not vulcanized synthetic rubber, say one or more substances comprised in the class of copolymers of diolefin hydrocarbides and alkylene cyanide. Copolymers of butadiene-vinyl cyanide may be suggested ,as a typical and preferred elastomer component ofthe compound material produced according to the invention,` it being however obvious to those skilled in the art that other rubbery copolymers of a dioleiin might be advantageously made use of for carrying out this invention.

The said plastic and adhesive component of the compound material considered may consist of any proper synthetic, resinous binding thermoplastic substance which may set at relatively lowtemperatures, say low polymers and/or low condensates which may be obtainedfrom known processes of production of synthetic resins, preferably of thermo-plastic character. For example, polychloro derivates of saturated aliphatic hydrocarbides, say poly-chloro-paraiiins may be suggested asV preferred but not exclusive plastic and adhesive component of the considered compound. k f

According to the fact that chloroapanains are more or less plastic according .to their chloride content, the said plastic and adhesive component may advantageously ob- ,y

tained by the association of several saidsubstances of differing contents in chloride. For example, the res-incas material which may be made adhesive may consist of a ohloro-parain at 71% of chloride, which may beplastiiied by a plasticizer consisting of a chloro-paraflin at 42%y of chloride, so that the material is made quite homogeneous. In such form of embodiment of the invention, the possible ,ci practical ratio resin/plasticizer may vary trom 1 to 4/ 1, according lto the average ambient tempenature of the place wherein the material of the invention is supposed to be applied and made use of,

According to the above saidY essential characteristic of the invention, in the adhesive land elastoaplastic basis of the compound material considered the resinous component is combined with a lesser amount of elastomer component, but the ratio of such components may be varied too according to the ambient temperature, say 4from lO/l to 2/ l, for example, the greater ratios being possible, in general, in mild climate, while in very cold and in hot climates lower ratios have been proved convenient.

For example, supposing that in the resinous plastic and adhesive component the resin is chlorofparaflin at 71% of chloride, and its plasticizer is chlonoapanaiin .at 42% of `chloride, and that the elastomer component is butadienel,3 vinyl cyanide, ina relation set :as fol-lows:

Adhesive and elastic-plastic basis Resinel-plasticiser:plastic and adhesive component Elastomer component the following iigures may be suggested as not limiting indications :of preferred various relative content values and ratios: l

from 13.03 1

(8264+826) 9.01-l-0.99=l0 from 9.1 1 Mild climates to (60.71-1-1335) 2.33-l0.52=2.85 35.94' 1 (75.75-l- 7.57) 4.52+0.48=5 from 16.68 1

Tropics c to (58.44-I- 10.52) 1.87-l-0.35=2.22 31.04 1

'llhese and other important features of the invention, together with the technical and economical advantages thereof, will be more lfully understood, from a rather differing standpoint of view, .from a consideration of the accompanyingdrawing, forming an essential component of this disclosure, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 shows, in a rather diagrammatical way and in very exaggerated scale and shape, -a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a portion of the compound material produced according to the invention, set and in use;

`FIGUREZ isa graph wherein certain advantageous elements of practical use ofthe invention are made readily apparent, and

yFIGURE 3 is another graph wherein the preferred iield of variation of the above said ratios are shown as a function of the average ambient temperature.

Referring -rst to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawing: by reference numeral .10 la layer of compound material produced las above is diagrammatically indicated. The thickness of said layer is preferably comprised between 0.5 to `1.5 krnilliinetres '(1/50 to V16 of an inch about), the said figures being indicative but the same might be considered as critical values in view of certain economical elements considered below. t

v Owing to plasticity of the material, the said layer 10 `may be quite adapted to land shaped ion the surface 11 Qwing to the adhesiveness which maybe obtained by wetting the lowcrsurface of said iayer 10g prior .to the iapplication thereof, in very brief time, .say .to few seconds 'to yfew minutes, according to the yambient temperature, the Asaid layer may be made firmly and permanently connected to the said surface S111. It @will be readily understood that the said iayers material is homogeneous throughout its thickness. l

When in carrying out the invention. the :above described combinations and patios of components, and the other structural condition referred'to above have been observed, the said layer 1,0, which behaves as a plastic during its setting on the road surface 11 and behaves as an adhesive in connecting itself to same surface, surprisingly behaves as a resilient carpet oriilm when subject to floads or stresses applied to the outer-'face thereof. For example, supposing that a tired wheel 15' of .a car is passing on said layer, it resilient-ly sets itself under the load, as diagrammatically. shown lat `13 land 14, in the cross-hatched zones of the thickness thereof, and it may return'to its original shape when the applied load is over. Said resilient character, together with the tear resisting ability of the material, makes the same adapted to resist the hardest abuse, .and itsy advhesiveness to the road surface 11 prevents any tearing off from said surface, even upon Ithe most severe tangential stresses that a sharp curving lor braking fast and heavy vehicle might apply on the outer face of Vsaid layer.

In the graph of FIG. 2 the right vertical scale indicates the thickness S of the layer 10, in millimetres from 0 to 1.4 and the lower horizontal scale is representative of the duration in months Dm of the material, at full signalling eiciency. Curve V indicates the average tested duration of the material, as a function of its original thickness, upon an average road traffic, and the curves V and V indicates the average variations of same function, related to a reduced road traffic and respectively to a very heavy road trafiic.

From said graph it may be readily noticed that the thicknesses more than 1.4 millimeters are not quite convenient, because the durationdoes not increase as a linear function of the thickness, i. e. of the cost of material, in general, above certain limits. The curves V, V" and V, below the line of thickness 0.2 millimeter, are rather theoretical, because such thin film 0f material may be subject to be punctured over the salients of the road surface, and it requires a perfectly smooth and clean road surface to be advantageously applied thereon.

On the left vertical scale vof same graph of FIG. 2, which may be directly referred to right scale of thickness S, the ratios C/Cv of the cost'of a material produced according to invention and of a conventional painted road sign of same surface is indicated. In particular, in the said relation C/Cv, C and Cv are both inclusive ofthe cost of the material and of yequipment and man hours for 'realizing the sign. It might be noticed,for example, that a given road sign produced by makingv use of the material according the invention and one millimeter thick Will be five-fold the cost of a corresponding painted road sign. l

On the horizontal upper scale of same FIG. 2 the values of the ratio C/Cv are referred to the various thicknesses S of the right vertical scale by the function represented by thedotted line C of the graph. The indexes C and Cv indicate the total costs of effective exercise of surface road markings, ofrgiven area and shape, produced and set according to the invention and respectively by a good'painting of the said surface, during a given time and under a given intensity of road tra'ic. The'various figures are representative of the conditions to which the said curve V of traffic has been calculated, and on the premises that, under said conditions and as experimentally proved, a properly painted road surface marking requires to be re-painted about every fourth week, for having its best signalling efficiency restored. As it will be readily noticed, the effective total cost of a given road marking one millimeter thick (which will resist three years, or 36 months under average conditions of tratiic, ground v`and climate) 'would be one-tenth about (C/Cv"=0.1) of the effective total cost of a corresponding good painted marking.

From the graph of FIG. 3 some indicative values of the ratios of the various components of the compound material considered may be had, as a function of the average ambient temperature, which is indicated in centigrades in the lower horizontal scale of the graph, from T (for temperature) =0 to 30. The nearly symmetrical curve in full-line is referred to the ratio P/E wherein4 P stays for plastic and adhesive component and E for elastomer component. It will be noticedfrom a consideration of thegraph of FIG. 3 that the greatest ratio (7.5/ 1) may be made use of for producing a material designed to be applied on places subjectto mild climate, wherein the average temperature is of 15 centigrade about, While where the ambient temperature either approaches to icing or raises over 25, a lesser ratio, say of 4/1 about, is to be preferably chosen,

The ever increasing dot-and-dash line of same graph of FIG. 3 is representative of the ratio C/P-l-E, wherein C indicates the additive component or the sum of additive components (fillers, dyes, pigments, reinforcing or tear resisting agents etc.) and P-l-E the sum of the components included in the adhesive elastoplastic basis. From said curve it may be deduced that larger amounts of fillers or other additive components may be additioned to the material designed to be used in hot climates, while for a cold climate use of a relatively low amount of additive components is to'be preferred.

The several values which may be read on the graph of FIG. 3 are purely indicative, and such values are subject to great variations in accordance to the type and material of the road covering, of the average type of traffic, and so on. In the said FIG. 3 the areas covered by vertical and by horizontal tracings are indicative of the fields within which the said Vvalues of P/E and respectively of C/P-l-E may vary.

It will be understood that each of the new combinations or arrangements of this new improved material, as described above, or tWo or more together, may also find useful application in other type or road or other surface marking or signalling, differing from the ones described.

Further, while I have described and illustrated my invention but in one form of embodiment thereof, and more particularly as embodied in a layer of material which maybe producedin sheet, strip or ribbon form, I do not intend to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications, adaptations and forms of embodiment may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of this invention.

For example, While it might be supposed the most practical use of the invention will involve the production,

' by extrusion and/ or by calendering, of sheet or strip material having signalling capacity itself, the same material above described, preferably without filling and/or coloring additive component, may be advantageously made use of in plastified form to realize a tear resisting, resilient and strongly adhesive film to be applied over the roadable surfaceto support and to firmly connect thereto a sheet, or strip of heterogeneous material, say rubber, fabric or the like, designed toV form an outer surface of the marking.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various Aapplications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and/ or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended Within the spirit and range of equivalence of this invention, as particularly deiined in and bythe appended claims.v Y

Having thus described this my `invention andthe mode of making use thereof, what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent is:

1.l A marked lroad comprising, in combination, a road- Way surface for vehicles; and adhesively joined thereto on the surface thereof for forming a Weather and Wearresistant marking which is adapted to remain joined to the road over prolonged periods of time and under Various conditions, a material having a thickness of 160 to 1/16 Of an inch and consisting essentially of a homogeneous combination of an elastic synthetic butadiene rubber, a synthetic chlorinated paraffin resin adapted to be made v-adhesive by the application of a plasticizer therefor, and a plasticizer therefor in an amount sucient to render said resin adhesive, said synthetic resin lbeing present in an amount greater than the amount of said elastic synthetic rubber.

` 2. Amarked road comprising, in combination, a roadway surface Jfor lvehiclesjand adhesively joined thereto on the surface thereof and forminga Weather and wearresistant marking which is adapted to remain joined to the road over prolonged periods of time and under Various conditions, a homogeneous combination of a copolymer of a diolen hydrocarbon and an alkylenecyanide as an elastic synthetic rubber, a synthetic chlorinated paran resin adapted to be made adhesive by the application of a plasticizer therefor, said synthetic resin being present in an amount greater thanl the amount of said elastic synthetic rubber.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,354,1049 Palmquist July 18, 1944 2,433,849 Lathrop .1 Jan. 6,v 1948 l2,479,671 Cohen et al. Aug. 23, 1949 2,545,977 vSmith Mar. 20, 1951 2,599,581 Perkins et'al.r June 10, 1952 2,643,235 Brams' VJune 23, 1953 2,824,502 Rockweii et a1 1-Feb. 25, 

1. A MARKED ROAD COMPRISING, IN COMBINATIONS, A ROADWAY SURFACE FOR VEHICLES; AND ADHESIVELY JOINED THERETO ON THE SURFACE THEREOF FOR FORMING A WEATHER AND WEARRESISTANT MARKING WHICH IS ADAPTED TO REMAIN JOINED TO THE READ OVER PROLONGED PERIODS OF TIME AND UNDER VARIOUS CONDITIONS, A MATERIAL HAVING A THICKNESS OF 1/50 TO 1/16 OF AN INCH AND CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A HOMOGENEOUS COMBINATION OF AN ELASTIC SYNTHETIC BUTADIENE RUBBER, A SYNTHETIC CHLORINATED PARAFFIN RESIN ADAPTED TO BE MADE ADHESIVE BY THE APPLICATION OF A PLASTICIZER THEREFOR, AND A PLASTICIZER THEREFOR IN AN AMOUNT SUFFICIENT TO RENDER SAID RESIN ADHESIVE, SAID SYNETHIC RESIN BEING PRESENT IN AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN THE AMOUNT OF SAID ELASTIC SYNETHIC RUBBER.
 2. A MARKED ROAD COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A ROADWAY SURFACE FOR VEHICLES; AND ADHESIVELY JOINED THERETO ON THE SURFACE THEREOF AND FORMING A WEATHER AND WEARRESISTANT MARKING WHICH IS ADAPTED TO REMAIN JOINED TO THE ROAD OVER PROLONGED PERIODS OF TIME AND UNDER VARIOUS CONDITIONS, A HOMOGENEOUS COMBINATION OF A COPOLYMER OF A DIOLEFIN HYDROCARBON AND AN ALKYLENE CYANIDE AS AN ELASTIC SYNTHETIC RUBBER, A SYNTHETIC CHLORINATED PARAFFIN RESIN ADAPTED TO BE MADE ADHESIVE BY THE APPLICATION OF A PLASTICIZER THEREFOR, SAID SYNTHETIC RESIN BEING PRESENT IN AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN THE AMOUNT OF SAID ELASTIC SYNTHETIC RUBBER. 